Clearwater man charged in 2014 fatal hit-and-run

A Clearwater man arrested in connection with a hit-and-run crash that killed a 43-year-old man in 2014 was charged Wednesday with leaving the scene of an accident that resulted in great bodily harm, according to Sedgwick County District Court records and the district attorney’s office.

Cary Whitlock, 54, is due back in court for his preliminary hearing on the felony charge on Oct. 20. He’s free on $25,000 bond, records show. Authorities announced Whitlock’s arrest last week, nearly two years after Jeremy Napier of Clearwater was struck by a vehicle and killed while walking along 103rd Street South between Ridge and Hoover roads around 2:30 a.m. on Sept. 14, 2014.

The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office has said the arrest was “the culmination of a lengthy investigation coupled with recent developments in the case.” There was no defense attorney listed in court records for Whitlock on Wednesday.